


Becoming Human... maybe?

by Captainalbertalexander



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen, spgfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-27
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2017-12-27 19:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/982782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captainalbertalexander/pseuds/Captainalbertalexander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Spine has undergone some changes... possibly not for the better.<br/>(Abandoned WIP)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> wow this was fun, i've never written a fic before. i hope everyone who reads it enjoys it! I appreciate feedback very much. Thanks for reading!!

Walter Manor was finally peaceful.

The summer sun had gone down and the crickets were chirping merrily. The windows of the manor were all open to let air circulate and cool all its residents down after a long, hot day. The sky was pitch black, its darkness only broken by the twinkling of the stars. The tranquility was absolutely mesmerizing. Suddenly, an unmarked black and green van sped towards the gigantic house, destroying the calm atmosphere. When the vehicle arrived in the sprawling lot in front of the manor, two men in matching black and green uniforms climbed out of it. They had shiny, round goggles atop their heads and big black boots on their feet. One was tall and lanky and the other was short and bald. They brought along a curious device that fit in a duffle bag. They sprinted to the nearest, shortest window and grinned to each other. One said, "This is too easy, it's like taking candy from a baby! Or a robot from a house, I guess," and then snickered. The other retorted, "Just get a move on, I don't wanna get caught. Be happy that we didn't have to pick a lock or anything." They both clambered through the window and scanned their surroundings. The house was quiet and dark, except for the few slivers of moonlight that shone through the windows. They walked down several halls and into multiple parts of the house until they found the exact room they were looking for: The Spine's bedroom.

They opened the door silently and crept into the room. The Spine was laying in his bed, in sleep mode. They took the contraption out from the bag and expanded it into a wheeled cart with scary looking claws. They situated it right next to The Spine's bed, and began to drag him onto the cart. The process was long and arduous, but at last they had him secured on the cart properly. They wheeled him out of the room soundlessly and down to one of the many side doors of Walter manor. The two workers then rolled the cart onto the sidewalk and down to the van. They hoisted The Spine into the back, hopped in, and drove off into the coming dawn to the Becile Laboratories.

~

At the labs, three scientists lowered The Spine onto an examination table. They took his nightshirt off and one went to get a tray of medical supplies from a different room. When they got back, they set the tray on a small roving table. The scariest instrument on the tray was a large, corked vial filled with a glowing green serum. They opened The Spine up and found the opening in the boiler where water was inserted. They poured the vial of mysterious liquid into the orifice and closed him up. The two men who kidnapped The Spine earlier that night came into the laboratory. The tall one said, "I hope he likes the surprise in store for him!" They put him back onto the cart and took him out of the building's double doors and back into the van. They drove off again and headed for the manor.


	2. Realization

The Spine awoke the next morning in a cold sweat and shaking. It took him a minute to re-orientate himself, but soon realized something was very wrong. _I shouldn't be shaking or sweating, because robots can't have physical reactions like this,_ he thought.

He pushed himself upright on the bed, arms wobbly and unstable. He looked down at his hands and almost screamed. They were human hands, pale and willowy. He stumbled to the nearest mirror and gawked at himself. He most certainly wasn't a robot anymore.

He was still the same height, and his facial features were approximately the same, but there were also major differences in his appearance. He was abnormally thin and spindly, and his face sallow. He had large dark circles around his eyes, and as he looked closer, he noticed his eyes still had a glowing green quality to them. He had high, prominent cheekbones, and a dark mess of hair. His skin was ashen and gossamer, almost sickly looking. But what gave him the greatest shock were the two long, pearly fangs sticking out of his mouth.

They were narrow and curved to tuck into his jaw. He shakily reached up to his face to touch one of them. They were definitely real; he could feel the pressure of his finger against it. _Vampire._ The word popped into his head and metaphorically slapped him across the face.  _I'm a freaking vampire._

He had no idea what to do. He didn't think he could say anything to anyone, robot or human. There was no telling how they would react. He only hoped they would understand and try to help him when the time came. He sighed dejectedly and, with a bit of contemplation, decided to stay in his room for the rest of the day. He changed out of his sweaty night clothes and put new ones on, and then sat in his bed to assess his options. The scenario he was in was peculiar and mind boggling. He put his head in his hands and tried to think. What would Peter Walter I suggest for him? _Well, he would probably want to study me first, that's exactly like him,_ he mused. He finally decided to try to go back to sleep and deal with whatever this was later. He was starting to get seriously stressed out.

 He flopped down against his fluffy pillow and curled up on his side. The silk sheets he picked out specifically for their softness were smooth and cool under his fingers. _If my sense of touch is altered this much,_ he pondered, _I wonder if my other senses are heightened?_

He tried to make himself go to sleep, but it was harder than he thought. Usually he just had to put a timer on sleep mode and close his eyes, but now he had to actually concentrate on making himself relax, and not think about the stress his predicament was inducing. He eventually fell into a fitful, dreamless sleep.

~

 _Drums. Someone is playing the drums,_ he thought.

He woke to a migraine and a loud pounding sound reverberating within the halls of the manor. The Spine covered his eyes and ears with a pillow, but he noise and light only got more intense with his increasing awareness. _Why am I hearing drums?_ he thought.  _All the practice rooms have soundproof walls. I shouldn't be hearing anything of that sort._

 Sunlight was coming in sheets through the unveiled window in his room, and it was blinding him. He made to close them, but as soon as one of the beams of light touched his exposed arm, it started melting. The flesh was stripped away painfully, and underneath was his normal metal arm. He covered his mouth to prevent himself from crying out in pain, and quickly jerked his arm back to his chest. The muscle and skin grew back relatively quickly, but it was left feeling stretched and raw. He thought to himself, _What am I going to tell everyone? And how will I get this stupid curtain closed without burning myself again?_

He needed that curtain closed now that he knew what would happen if he was exposed to sunlight again. He danced around the patches of sunlight, and by moving to the side of the window and shielding himself with part of the curtain's dark fabric he managed to get it closed without much difficulty. He breathed a sigh of relief, and knew that sunlight was a no-no from now on.

He slid down the wall with a sigh of frustration. He knew now that he couldn't go outside in the daylight hours without covering up heavily. There were some major setbacks to that. He was also painfully hungry. His stomach twisted in knots in an effort to make his body aware that neglecting nutrition was not an option. The Spine was getting increasingly panicked and slightly uncomfortable about what he was to do in a position like this.

After mulling over his options for a while, he decided to go out of his room and go get some movies from the media room. His reasoning was if Pappy would have started out researching and observing, so would he. He hoped they would help him find out what he was going through. He planned his path to hopefully avoid as many open windows as possible, and then set out on his mission.

On his way to the media room, he had to navigate around some patches of sunlight. His toes almost burned once, but he jerked his foot away just as he noticed he was about to step somewhere he would regret. He got to the media room safe and sound, and found a relatively large collection of vampire movies he could watch. He wanted to compare and contrast popular theories about his newfound vampirism. He got back to his room without incident and sat down on the bed. He took a DVD out and almost tried to shove it into his torso, but then he remembered he didn't have a DVD slot there anymore. That meant he had to get a laptop from the media room as well. He went there and back without anyone seeing him. He grabbed a pen and some paper from his desk, and plopped down again. He couldn't get over how light he felt. It was always like he was rooted to the ground before, but now he felt as if he could float away any second. He started up the laptop and inserted the first DVD. He then watched all the movies and took down the popular speculations, strengths, and weaknesses they mentioned. The process repeated long into the night and into the early morning. When he was done with all the separate lists, he condensed them down into a single, relatively short one.

The list stated that the most common physical features of vampires were fangs, an almost colorless skin tone, and lankiness. The most popular strengths were increased speed, strength, visibility, enhanced sense of smell, and incredible hunting instincts. He gulped at the last two words on the paper. He didn't want to hurt anyone or lose control suddenly and do something he might suffer later for. The list of weaknesses was inability to tolerate sunlight, solid foods, and religious symbols used specifically for bad intentions towards the subject. Some other attributes mentioned in the movies were that vampires were nocturnal, which would take some getting used to if that turned out to be true. He also noticed that in a couple movies that vampires couldn't cross into a private threshold without direct permission. He put the list down on his bedside table, stood up, stretched, and sighed deeply. Whatever he got himself into, he wouldn't be getting out so easily.


	3. Situation Handling

Just as he was about to return the DVDs and laptop to the media room, The Spine heard someone knock on the door. He put his ear against the door and heard the faint ticking and whirring of his sister, Rabbit.  He paused and wondered if he should let her in. He risked a glance through the door's peephole. Sure enough, it was Rabbit. She thumped on the door again, which made The Spine jump a little. Through the door, Rabbit's voice was a concerned, muffled tone. "C'mon out, The Spine! Y-y-y-you've been in there for ever! Come out, please?"

The Spine hesitated before opening the door. Rabbit said, "Finally! I was beginning to wor-" but was rendered speechless at The Spine's new look. She ogled at him for a while, until she said, "What in the w-world happened to you?!"

The Spine shrank a bit at Rabbit's words. It wasn't like he did this to himself intentionally. "I honestly don't know. I just woke up a couple days ago like this. What should I do? I can't let anyone see me, they wouldn't know what to think!", he said. Rabbit looked The Spine up and down contemplatively for a minute before replying, "What are you exactly? You don't look like Steve or Michael or M-Matt, or even the Walter Girls."

The Spine covered his face with his hands and moaned, "I think I'm a vampire. Everything matches up. I even have fangs."

Rabbit's eyes widened in wonderment and awe. "No way, really?" she said. "Can I see them? How'd you even g-get like this?"

The Spine sighed and said, "First, no, you can't see them. Second, I told you already. I woke up and bam- vampire. I have no idea how it happened. And do you mind lowering your voice? I think I have a headache."

Rabbit whispered, "Sorry. It's all so exiting though! I feel like I'm in a dime mystery novel, and w-we gotta figure out who did this to you."

The Spine said, "I don't think we can address the situation of 'whodunit' until we get everyone in on my current standpoint. We have to call everyone for a meeting. Can you send a message to everyone to congregate in the dining room? It has low lighting there."

Rabbit screwed her face up in concentration for a second, then said "Done. Wanna walk with me?"

The Spine answered, "We'll have to stop off at the media room to return the movies and laptop first."

PC and movies in hand, they set out for the media room. Rabbit shuffled through the DVDs and chuckled. "These are a b-b-bit cliche, don't you think?" she said. I'd have taken a look at some more realistic films if I were you."

The Spine scoffed and said, "What's cliche about them? They're all classic vampire movies! Plus, I happen to like them."

Rabbit rolled her photo-receptors and shot back, "Nosferatu, really? I get that it's old, we went to see it at the theatre in 1929, remember? But back then nobody knew much about anything abnormal like vampires. Or even robots, f-for that matter. I just think it's probably inaccurate."

The Spine said, "I guess you're right, I hadn't really thought about it that way."

They arrived at the media room and put the items in the correct places, then headed over to the dining room. On the way there, they were stopped by a huge ray of light that covered the entire hallway. "Can you please close that drape over the window Rabbit?" The Spine asked nervously.

Rabbit complied and afterwards questioned, "What happens if you go into the l-light? Do you get burned?"

The Spine answered, "In a way, yes. But the weird part is I can see the metal I had underneath the skin and muscle, so I don't think there are any bones in my body."

"Creepy," Rabbit said.

"Creepy indeed," replied The Spine.

At last, they arrived at the dining hall. As they were approaching, The Spine heard the drumming again. He realized all the rhythmic thumpings were the heartbeats of the human inhabitants of Walter Manor. The recognition of that fact creeped The Spine out a bit.  Rabbit peeked in, and told The Spine everyone was already seated at the long table.

"You sure you wanna go in?", Rabbit said. "Will you know what happens when you get in there? Will the humans b-bother you or something?"

The Spine grimaced and replied, "I'm not exactly sure what'll happen. But if something goes wrong and I'm not aware of it, you'll have to take some sort of action, understand? Don't be afraid to be rough with me."

Rabbit looked a bit uneasy. She said reluctantly, "A-a-alright, I'll make sure ya don't go cuckoo on us." The Spine smiled a bit and said, "Then what are we waiting for? You go in first."


	4. The Reveal

Rabbit stepped through the door and closed it behind her until there was only a tiny gap between it and the door frame. The Spine waited for a minute so that Rabbit could brace their friends for the shock in store for them. He could hear Rabbit say "...Now don't act rashly, he's still the same as before..."

The Spine took a deep breath and steeled himself for the stares and questions. He could almost _feel_ the tension in the other room. Then Rabbit peeped her head around the door and said, "They're all waiting for ya."

Rabbit stepped back to let The Spine in the room. He strode over the threshold and felt the stares boring into him. He was vaguely aware he was blushing ever so slightly. It felt as though everything was in slow motion, like he was swimming in molasses. The worst part of all of it was he became overwhelmingly hungry, and had to physically stop himself from walking and force himself to stand rooted to the spot by the doorway. He thought if he could keep his distance it would be better, but his efforts to restrain himself were almost completely for naught. His fangs slipped from their hiding space in his gums, and he had to clamp his mouth shut so no one would see them. But as hard as he tried to keep them tucked away, they ended up completely in view. He saw Steve's face twist into a look of deep concern, and Walter Girl Paige's hand go over her mouth. Confusion, and though they did their best to hide it, fear mingled on Matt and Michael’s faces. He became cripplingly sad at their minute looks of terror. He knew they were trying to hide it, but it was no use.

Hatchworth said, "Did you change your hair? It looks different." He relaxed at Hatchworth's comment. He was grateful for some comedic relief . Nobody else reacted to Hatchworth's remark, though. The Spine stood there for a moment, waiting for everyone to take in the physical changes he had undergone.

He turned to Rabbit and whispered, "Did you tell them everything?"

Rabbit murmured, "Not exactly... I think they all thought you got an update or adjustment, something minor."

Walter Girl Carolina was the first to speak. "Well, this is a change. I thought you just got a tuneup but I guess I was wrong, 'cuz even Michael is surprised. Do we know who, or what, did this to you?"

The Spine opened his mouth to speak, but then saw Carolina’s expression change to fear when she saw his fangs, just like Michael and Matt had.  He was suddenly hit with a new wave of sorrow. He promptly shut his mouth and turned to Rabbit, who replied, "No, we honestly don't know how it happened. The Spine said he w-woke up like this a couple days ago. That's why none of us had seen him lately."

Steve said, "I can run some tests to see what we're dealing with, if that helps any."

The Spine turned to Steve and gratefully said, "I'd really appreciate that, actually."

Hatchworth giggled and said, "You have a little bit of a lisp when your fangs are out."

Michael punched him lightly on the shoulder and replied, "Dude, didn't anyone ever tell you not to make fun of vampires? They'll mess you up."

The Spine interjected, "I'm not going to 'mess anyone up'. Can we all just head over to a lab or an engineering room?"

They all agreed that troubleshooting was the best plan of action, so the group went to one of Steve and Michael's office spaces. When they got there, Michael pulled up a big leather rolling chair and patted its seat. The Spine sat down in it and Michael said, "Ok, let's see what's going on. But before we get into a full blown examination, can one of you get some medical supplies? Gloves, syringes, tongue depressor, the works."

"Yeah, I'll be right back," Steve volunteered, and went to grab a medical tool kit.

While Steve was gone, Michael asked The Spine a series of general inquiries, like "Does any of your body hurt?" and "Can you follow my finger with your eyes?". Steve came back with a leather medical bag and plopped it down on one of the work tables in the room. He handed Michael a pair of thick surgeon's gloves, then put on a pair himself. They both pulled up chairs in front of The Spine and motioned for everyone else to sit back and relax. Rabbit placed a chair right next to The Spine and sat down. Steve pulled out a stethoscope and put the ear pieces in his ears. He stood up and told The Spine to sit straight backed and take deep breaths. Steve moved the stethoscope's chest piece over The Spine's lungs, then his heart. When Steve's face grew increasingly shocked, Michael asked what was wrong.

Steve said, "Listen, there's literally no heartbeat! Either that or it's so slow and faint that I didn't hear it." Michael took the stethoscope from Steve and put it back onto The Spine's chest. He sat listening for a while, then sat back and said, "I heard one beat. One beat for 30 seconds." At The Spine's look of unease, he added, "Not that it's a bad thing. It's really not. I guess it's just something we'll have to get used to."

The rest of the check-up went relatively smoothly. The only minor hiccups occurred when Steve shone a bright light in The Spine's eyes to test pupil constriction, and the blood test. During the eye exam, The Spine flinched away from the beam of light so violently that Rabbit almost fell over in shock. With a chuckle, Steve made a mental note to check The Spine's reflexes sometime soon. The blood work part was even worse. None of the tests were conclusive to any degree, much to the dismay of Steve and Michael.

When the two were finally satisfied with the mock check-up, they sat down in front of everyone and relayed the news in less medical oriented terms.

"Ok, what we know so far is The Spine's got fangs (Michael giggled and said, "You got that right"), pretty much no heartbeat, extra sensitivity to light, artificial or not, and pretty good reaction time. Other than that, we're at square one again," Steve said.

"Uh, I've observed I have heightened senses and titanium bones..." The Spine offered.

"Wait, what?!" Michael and Steve exclaimed unanimously.

The Spine rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Yeah, i got burned by a beam of light in my room and I saw a bit of metal." At the two mechanic's looks at him, The Spine quickly said, "See here now, we're not cutting me open to explore!"

Steve exclaimed, "What if you've got wires for veins?! And what if blood runs through them?!?! Wouldn't that be the coolest thing ever to see?!"

The Spine curled up into a tight ball on the leather chair and said defensively," I'm not a test dummy!"

"Alright, alright, leave the freak half-robot half-vampire alone, you science nerds," Rabbit interrupted.

Matt asked timidly, "Is the whole blood drinking thing true, Spine? And if it is, how are we gonna handle that?"

The Spine sat back in his chair and huffed out a large breath. He had been wanting to avoid this conversation.

Everyone looked at him, and Paige asked, "Are you hungry? You gotta be honest with us on this one."

He wanted to lie and say he was fine, but in truth he'd been hungry since the second morning.

He whispered, "I can hear all the heartbeats in this room. I've been hearing them since I woke up on the second day. When I walked into the dining hall, I had to literally stop in my tracks because they were so overwhelming. I felt... _something_ in my gut when I heard your hearts jump at the sight of me. I feel this, I don't know, pull inside me to just..."

He stopped talking when he looked up and saw their faces. He registered the fear and trepidation in them, the fight or flight instinct welling up inside each individual. He lowered his eyes and clasped his hands in his lap.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I probably made you all nervous, it was an accident. I'll try not to let it happen again." He spoke softly, as if saying anything louder than a whisper would cause the humans to run for the hills.

Matt knelt down to offer The Spine some reassurance. He said, "It's ok, you need to tell us how you feel so we can assess the situation properly and plan a course of action, right guys?" Everyone nodded their agreement. 

"I know a guy who can hook us up with some blood bags from the hospital," Steve offered. "Lemme just make a call." 

And with that, everyone went on with their day.


	5. Sustenance

The gang found The Spine in his room about 15 minutes later. Rabbit pushed open the door and sang, "Guess who's getting their privacy invaded! C'mon in you guys, let's have a f-family meeting!"

Everyone crowded into the room. Steve spoke up first. "My friend Ethan should be outside soon in one of those blood drive vans. He said he can give us some blood bags. It'll last us a while, so that gives us some time to figure this out," he said.

The Spine said, "That's a good start, but what about concerts? Don't we have one scheduled for this weekend?" 

Paige gasped. "Oh my gosh, you're right!" she said. "It's in Washington on Friday night, so we only have like, one and a half days to get a temporary fix on this whole thing. We have to come up with something that'll make The Spine look normal."

"What about special effects makeup?" pondered Rabbit. Hatchworth bobbed his head in agreement.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Carolina put in. "We'd have to practice a couple times to make it look realistic, but I think it's a great idea otherwise. Whaddya say, The Spine?"

He nodded his approval and asked, "That's all well and good, but what am I going to do about the massive crowds of people? Everyone and their mother goes to our shows, or at least that's what it feels like. I could barely stop myself in the dining room..."

Paige went over to The Spine and put her arms around his shoulders. "We'll get through this," she said comfortingly. "Even if there are some bumps in the road, everything will turn out fine."

 Just then, the doorbell rang. Rabbit poked a button on the wall and called, "Be right up, give us a second!"

They all trooped up to the front door. Steve opened it and said, "Hey Ethan, come on in. It's good to see you."

Ethan was a tallish blond man with green eyes and a mischievous smile. He was wearing khaki pants, a purple and grey sweater vest, and leather loafers. He walked in at Steve's wave and shut the door behind him with his foot. He said," Steve! Great to see you. Where should i put these?" In his hands was a large, white cooler and a smaller red one.

Steve said, "You can just set them on the ground for now, it's fine." Ethan placed it on the ground and inquired, "If you don't mind me asking, what's all this blood for anyway? Is it another one of your crazy science experiments again?"

Steve smiled a bit and answered, "I guess you could call it that. We actually have what seems to be a vampire in the manor, as crazy as it sounds."

Ethan's eyes almost doubled in size. "No way," he said. "I knew you guys had robots and giant cats, but vampires too? You've got to be pulling my leg."

Steve shook his head in bemusement and said, "Really, it's true. C'mere, The Spine."

The Spine walked up to Ethan nervously and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Ethan. I'm The Spine. I was a robot until a few days ago, but now I'm this," he said as he gestured to himself.

Ethan took The Spine's hand eagerly and said, "Well would you look at that. And people say vampires aren't real." Ethan sat back on his heels and said, "Alright The Spine, I'll really believe you after this little test. Do you think you can tell me what my blood type is?" 

Raising an eyebrow,The Spine sniffed the air a bit. There were too many people in the room to identify just one smell, so he asked everyone but Ethan and Steve to clear the foyer. They all complied, leaving the three of them alone. Once everyone was cleared out, The Spine said, "That's better. Now this might be a tad awkward, but may I borrow your wrist for a moment?"

Ethan generously complied, rolling up his sleeve a bit to make it easier. The Spine delicately took Ethan's upturned wrist in his hand and inhaled deeply. His fangs poked out, and he heard Ethan release a small, sharp breath. He immediately knew it was A positive, and to his surprise, it smelled tangy and fresh. He let go of Ethan's arm and said, "A positive, right? That's the first blood identification I've ever done, so I apologize if I'm wrong. I actually don't know how I did that, or how I even knew what A positive smells like..."

"Spot on," Ethan said, grinning. "Man, those fangs look sharp! I thought for a second that you were gonna take a bite out of me."

The Spine said, "Oh no, I would never do that. I have the blood bags now, remember?"

Ethan smacked himself in the head and exclaimed, "That's right! I wanted you to try one or two before I go to see if you're alright with them. Can you humor me?"

"Of course," The Spine said. He opened the cooler carefully. Inside were about 15 pint bags full of red, sloshy blood. He picked one up and squished it a bit. The bag had a white sticker on it that stated the blood was B negative. It doesn't look that bad, he thought. He bit into one apprehensively.

It was a thousand times better than he would have ever dreamed.

He took small mouthfuls to be polite, but honestly just couldn't get enough. It was everything he could have ever hoped for and then some, like being in a desert and suddenly finding an oasis. Before he knew it, the bag was empty. 

Ethan and Steve watched and waited for an answer as to how it was. The Spine said, "Wow, I guess I really need these. Thank you Mr. Ethan."

Ethan puffed out a relieved breath and replied, "Glad to be of service. Maybe you should heat one up somehow, it'll probably taste better."

"Good idea," Steve affirmed. "To the kitchen!"

The Spine picked up the coolers and the three of them headed over to the kitchen. When they got to their destination, Steve said, "Maybe microwave it? That seems like it would be the best option. Poke a hole or two in the top of the bag though, I don't want it to explode. Or even better, just put it in a mug."

The Spine went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a white mug with a cat on it. He also got out a pair of kitchen scissors from a drawer. He then got out a bag of O positive from the cooler and proceeded to cut the top of the bag off and pour the blood into the mug. He could smell the blood strongly, and it made him slightly dizzy with hunger. He was absolutely starving.

Ethan said, "Let's try putting it in for 30 seconds, that usually heats most things up nicely."

After the seemingly eternal 30 seconds, The Spine carefully took the mug out of the microwave. He blew on the blood to cool it down, and took a sip. He concluded warm blood was definitely better than cold, and finished the cup in a few swigs. He licked his lips in satisfaction. "Let's put the rest of these bags in the fridge," Steve suggested. He and Ethan grabbed the rest of the bags from the cooler and deposited them into a drawer in the refrigerator. 

"Well, I guess my job is done here. It was a pleasure meeting you, The Spine. And it was great seeing you again, Steve!" Ethan said. He gave a small wave and picked up the cooler. "I'll leave that smaller cooler for your carrying convenience. Other than that, I'll see myself out. If you need more soon, don't hesitate to give me a ring."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok i may or may not have been thinking about cecil baldwin when i made ethan up... also i think i ship ethan and the spine a lil bit, whoopsies :3


	6. Coping

After Ethan left, Steve and The Spine were left sitting at the small table in the kitchen. Steve got up, adjusted his bandanna, and said, "Well, I guess just go back to whatever you were doing earlier. We might all go out to dinner later or something if you wanna come."

The Spine shrugged and, with a chuckle said, "Ok, but I think I should change out of my pajamas before we leave." He hadn't really noticed what he was wearing until now, and became a bit embarrassed. He waved a little goodbye to Steve and went to go search for some clothes. He figured that Michael was the closest person to him in height and build, so he went back to the engineering rooms to find Michael and ask to borrow some clothes. He found Michael under a piece of heavy machinery, on a mechanic's creeper cart.

He knelt down beside the large mechanism and timidly asked, "Hey Mike, can you come out for a second?" Michael jumped, yelped, sighed, and crawled out from underneath the contraption.

"Gosh darn it The Spine, you're gonna have to learn to make some sound when you move from now on. I almost cracked my head open," he laughed. He sat up and scooted over to a desk with a blackened rag on it. He wiped his hands with the rag, and stood up. "Alright, what can I do for you?"

"Sorry, I was just wondering if I could borrow some clothes," The Spine said, "Seeing as I can't wear mine every day now..." Michael wiped his forehead and said, "Oh, so that's what this is about. I'll see what I can get for you, come with me."

The two of them walked down to Michael's room. Thankfully, all the windows had been shut and all the curtains drawn. The Spine felt like the others were being deprived of the summer sun, which made his hatred of the situation fester deeper into him. When they arrived, Michael strolled through the door. But when The Spine tried to walk through the threshold, he jumped back, as though electrocuted. Michael turned around and asked, "What's the hold up?"

The Spine said, "I can't get through the doorway. You didn't set up any kind of electric defense system, did you?" He poked his finger at the doorway and yipped when got zapped again by the invisible force.

Michael went wide eyed and said, "No, I haven't installed anything like that. Let's see if it does the same thing to me. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention." He put his arm hesitantly through the entryway. Nothing happened. "It's all you, man. I think you have to be invited in. Cool."

The Spine mumbled, "Well, it's not exactly cool for me."

"Can I come in now, though?" he said, so that Michael could hear. Michael smiled, an in an overly dramatic voice said, "The Spine, you can come into my room."

"Thanks," The Spine said, a bit sarcastically.  He placed a foot through the doorway apprehensively. No feeling of electrocution. _How does this even work?_ , The Spine thought.  He sighed gratefully, and walked into Michael's bedroom. Michael went to his chest of drawers and rummaged around a bit.

He said, "You can sit down if you want, this might take a while."

The Spine perched at the end of Michael's bed. After a couple minutes, Michael held up some articles of clothing. They were a pair of black pants, a forest green t-shirt, a pair of underwear, black socks, and black shoes. "These should do alright. I got a green t-shirt because I know you're not exactly fond of purple, or tank tops."

Michael handed over the clothes to The Spine. "Thanks, Mike. I don't know what I'd do without you," The Spine said. "I think we need to go shopping, though. I can't wear these all the time."

Michael nodded and said, "We could go do that tonight. I just have to tell the gang where we're going. I should actually go right now and see if anyone else wants to come. Knowing everyone, they'll all want to. We'll probably be leaving soon. Oh, and feel free to use my shower if you want."

"Thanks again for everything, Michael. You're a real life saver," The Spine called out the doorway at Michael's receding back. He then turned around and headed for Michael's bathroom. He opened the door to the bathroom. It was clean, inviting, and dazzling white. He was almost surprised that there were no purple tiles accenting the walls. He found a towel in the linen cabinet by the door and put it, along with the new clothes, on the toilet seat. He turned on the shower (which was honestly a bit of a challenge), took off his pajamas, and hopped in.

The warm spray of water relaxed his aching muscles and helped him calm down after the stressful past days. He thought about everything that had happened, and became anxious about the coming weeks. The shower finally ran cold, and he was disappointed and a bit shocked from the freezing air when he had to get out. He dried off and put the new clothes on. The pants were a bit short and the shoes a little tight, but everything else fit fine. He pawed around in the bathroom vanity until he found an unopened toothbrush and stick of organic deodorant. He took off the top and sniffed the deodorant. It smelled like lemon and chamomile, so he figured the smell wouldn't bother his new super sniffer too much. He put it on, and brushed his teeth with Michael's toothpaste. He hoped Michael didn't mind. He put his towel in a hamper, and went to go find the other residents of the Manor.

He found everyone in the living room. When they saw him, Steve stood up. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Alright kids. Here's the game plan: Dinner, then shopping time." 


	7. Venturing Out

After Steve's "game plan" proposal, he shooed everyone outside and into the band's huge, custom colored black and red Mercedes MiniBus. After they were all seated and had seatbelts on, Steve asked, "Ok, where does everybody wanna go?" 

Steve was then assaulted with shouts of different resturants. He yelled, "Rabbit, we are NOT going to Chipotle again, it's the fourth time this week you've said that!" The Spine clapped his hands over his ears. What a sensory overload! He closed his eyes and waited until everyone got quiet again to uncover his ears. Rabbit mumbled next to him, "But I like Chipotle..."

The Spine sighed and said, "I should have brought a blood bag for the road."

Rabbit punched him lightly and said, "Hang in there bro. We haven't even l-left the driveway yet!"

The Spine resisted the urge to smack himself on the forehead. "Was I just programmed stupid or..." He stopped himself. He had to stop saying things robots say, because he wasn't one anymore. "You know what," he said, "Nevermind. Scoot so I can get out."

He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened he car door. Steve said, "What are you doing? We still haven't figured out where we're going!"

The Spine said, "I'm not going to eat anyway, remember? Pick somewhere without me. Hand me the house keys, I'll be right back."

Steve tossed him the keys, and The Spine shut the car door behind him. He then became startlingly aware of how lucky he was. It was completely dark outside, with no sun to be found. The absence of sunlight reminded him that they needed to go to a superstore too, so he could stock up on sunscreen. He set off at a light jog up the expansive gravel driveway. When he got to the manor door, he fumbled a bit for the right key, found it, and unlocked the door. He hurried over to the kitchen, and opened up the refrigerator. In the top drawer, he found all the blood bags that were stored earlier that day. He grabbed three, then four, and as an afterthought, five bags. Then he reached into the freezer and got an ice pack. He searched around the kitchen for the cooler Ethan had given them, and found it on one of the counter tops. He shoved the bags and ice pack in the cooler and high tailed it back outside. He locked the door behind him and all but ran back to the vehicle. When he was back in the comfort of the giant van, he let out a huge sigh of relief. He didn't know why he felt uneasy when he wasn't with the gang, but he was. He just couldn't describe it.

The Spine tossed the keys back to Steve and buckled up again. He asked, "So where did you guys decide to go?"

Paige said, "We're going to that swanky new Italian place not too far from here. Tre Bicchieri, if I remember right. It's even got an upstairs level for big parties."

"Great," The Spine said, "Let's get rolling."

~~~

About halfway to the restaurant, Matt said, "I think we should come up with an alias for you, The Spine. Sorry to say, but your given name isn't exactly normal sounding." Carolina nodded in agreement and added, "It has to be something inconspicuous though, something that people would easily overlook."

The Spine said, "Alright, start naming names then."

Lots of names were suggested, like Aaron, Ben, and Nathan, but none of them seemed to fit The Spine's personality. Then Hatchworth piped up and said, "What about David?"

Michael said, "That's fantastic! It's perfect. A little mysterious, but definitely a normal, common name. Great work, Hatchy! What do you say, The Spine?"

The Spine grinned and said, "I love it. David it is."

Steve said, "I hate to break up this little naming game, but we're here. Hey, we get to test out that whole aversion to garlic thing! Italian restaurants are awesome." Steve laughed.

The Spine groaned, "Oh shoot, already? I didn't even get a chance to eat!"

Rabbit said, "How's about me and Paige go get our table n-n-name down and get the wait time, and the rest of you guys stay here. That gives The Spine t-time to suck down a bag or two beforehand, ok?" She gave them all two thumbs up and said to Paige, "Let's get a move on then, shall we?"

One Rabbit and Paige were out of the car, Hatchworth said to The Spine, "How do you think you're gonna react in there?"

The Spine shook his head and said, "Honestly, it's anybody's guess right now. I'm just going to go with the flow and see how everything plays out."

Michael said, "Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. We'll all be there with you anyway, so if anything doesn't turn out too peachy, you're covered."

The Spine reached into the cooler and pulled out a blood bag. This one had a little straw like attachment, so he took off the plastic cap attached to the end and sipped through it. He felt that same intense, almost euphoric sensation of relief as last time, like a moment of rest after hours of hard manual labor. Before he knew it, the bag was empty. With a sigh, he tossed the empty container in the cooler and picked up another one. This one didn't have the convenience of an attached tube, so he just bit into it. 

All the while, Steve, Matt, Michael, and Carolina were staring. Not in the rude, bug-eyed way, but with genuine curiosity and wonderment. After The Spine was finished with the second bag, he looked up to see the stares. He shrunk a way a bit and asked defensively, "What?"

Hatchworth said from the back of the great vehicle, "They don't mean anything by it. All of this is just going to take time to adjust to. This whole thing happened in what, less than a couple days? That's a big adjustment to be made in that short amount of time."

Matt rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Yeah, sorry. It is a lot to get used to."

Carolina added, "Plus, it's just downright fascinating! I swear, nobody meant for it to be the bad kind of staring."

Then Paige came back to the van, effectively saving the day from awkwardness, and tapped on the window. Michael opened one of the sliding doors, and she said, "The table's all set up for us, so come on in!"

Everyone piled out of the car and up to the doorway of Tre Bicchieri. It was small and inviting, and very traditionally Italian. They all filed through the doorway, The Spine giving a small sigh of relief when he wasn't shocked. He was very surprised at the waves of scents he was greeted with. None were especially more harsh than others comparatively, so he didn't think the whole garlic thing was going to be a problem after all.

The hostess at the podium said, "If you'd all follow me, please." She led them up a narrow staircase and into an open, parlor-like room. It was painted with rich red walls, and accented with elegant stained wood and large grey stones. A large mahogany table with ten chairs was the obvious focal point of the room. They all took their seats and got menus from the hostess. She said their server would be with them shortly, then promptly left.

The Spine heard the footsteps coming up the stairs before he saw who was making them. It was a young man with a loping gait, most likely 17 or 18 years old. He was wearing a black polo with the Tre Bicchieri logo on it, black pants, black shoes, and a black waitstaff's apron. He had short brown hair and kind, personable eyes. He stopped right at the head of the table and announced, "Hi everyone, my name's Mark and I'm going to be your server tonight. Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

The Spine caught a whiff of Mark's scent, and just about leaped out of his seat at the poor boy. It took almost everything he had to compose himself. Rabbit noticed The Spine's internal struggle and whispered, "Hey, you alright? Are all these people in here bothering you?"

The Spine balled his hands under the table and growled, "I may have to get out of here, I don't know yet." Steve, who was sitting across from The Spine, said, "If you need to duck back into the van anytime, I'll give you the keys in a heartbeat. No pun intended, sorry."

"No, I'll be alright for now," The Spine sighed, and put his head in his hands. This was going to be so much harder than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i should've mentioned this earlier but EVERYTHING YOU READ IS PROPERTY OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF SPG. only thing that's my thinking up and executing is ethan and let's be honest he's not too great ok but enjoy anyway and don't forget that i have no talent and this just me taking down things as i would see them if this were a real life situation ok have a nice day buhbye
> 
> ps i have never been a waiter but i get the jist of what the normally say i guess  
> pps mark because MK III AM I RIGHT


	8. Giving the Slip

After sitting in the restaurant for about 30 minutes trying his best not to breathe, The Spine decided it was time to hang out in the van for a while. 

"Alright, I'm caving. Can I have the keys, Steve?" he said. 

Steve smirked and replied, "Yeah, sure." He dug in his pockets for the keys and a five dollar bill. He gave the keys to The Spine and slapped the bill on the table. Rabbit cackled and said, "He's going to the car, isn't he. G-guess you're outta luck, Stevie-boy."

The Spine stared at Rabbit and Steve. He couldn't believe they had a  _bet!_

"You guys are totally not taking this seriously," he muttered as he got up from the table. 

Rabbit snatched up the bill and crowed, "Me and Hatchy'll be out with you in a sec,  _Daaaavid!"_

The Spine rolled his eyes and went down the stairs and to the exit. 

~~~

At last, he was finally away from the oppressive heat and distracting heartbeats of the restaurant. He took a deep breath and stretched. He was stiff after sitting so rigidly.  He decided a nice long walk in the dark would soothe his nerves and give him some time to think. 

As he disembarked on his journey, he thought about the random people in the restaurant.  _They didn't even give a second glance in my direction,_ he thought.  _At least I'm not a walking oddity anymore, I can just be a regular person. Except for the whole sunlight and crosses thing._

As he turned down a street and into an alley, something caught his eye. A plume of dirty smoke was left in the wake of what The Spine thought was a Becile Bot. He immediately turned around and made to go back to the parking lot of the restaurant, but before he could do so, a tall figure blocked his path. It was The Skull, a rival of Walter Robotics.

"I see our little concoction worked on you," The Skull taunted.

The Spine backed away from the menacing automaton.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" The Spine asked, balling his fists.

A voice came from behind him. "You got no idea do ya? Our people did this to you. We're just checkin' up on the aftermath."

He turned around to find Hare, another Becile Bot, right behind him.

"Ya killed anybody yet?" Hare jeered.

The Spine quipped, "Of course not, I wouldn't be so daft. I've got myself in check, but I doubt you can say the same for yourself."

"Why you little-" 

The Skull cut Hare off before he could say anything further. "It's only a matter of time before you slip up. And when you do, our scientists will be there to haul you off to their laboratories. Consider this your official warning. Come brother, we'll be going now."

 Hare jabbed The Spine's chest and said, "I won't go so easy on ya next time, fang face."

Something inside The Spine snapped. He grabbed Hare by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the side of a nearby building so hard that the bricks quaked. His fangs shot out of his gums and he could feel Hare's core shiver. He hissed, "You better not get on my bad side if you know what's good for you. I'll mess you up."

He let go of Hare and said, "Now get outta here before you make me mad."

Hare slinked off, The Skull not far behind him. Just after they disappeared, Rabbit and Hatchworth came running into the alleyway.

"We heard a ruckus and came to see if you were alright," Hatchworth panted.

"Why is your b-breath so heavy Hatchy? We didn't even run that far," Rabbit giggled.

"Just out of shape, dear sister," was his breathy reply.

Rabbit laughed again, then turned to The Spine. When she saw his expression, she sobered up immediately. 

"What happened? Didja get into a fight or s-something Spine?" she asked.

"Yeah, something like that," The Spine murmured. "Why don't we just go back to the van, huh?"

"Fine," Rabbit proclaimed dramatically, "If you don't wanna tell your own kin, that's p-perfectly fine I guess. Let's go Hatchy, the others'll be waitin'."

Rabbit practically skipped off, but Hatchworth stayed behind with The Spine. They walked in silence for a minute or two, then Hatchworth said quietly, "It's ok if you don't want to tell me what happened, but just promise me you or other people won't get hurt."

The Spine didn't know how to respond to Hatchworth's statement, so he just nodded. They walked back into the parking lot and found everyone waiting outside the giant car. 

"Hop in, you two," Steve called. "We're going shopping!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really sorry that I haven't updated in soooo long you guys, i just have been too busy to sit down for an hour or so and see where the muse takes me. Hope you like the story so far! I'll be constantly updating though, so some minor things might change like they have been doing in past chapters.


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